Lady Caroline Jane Wellesley (born 6 July 1951) is a British television producer and writer. She is the daughter of Valerian, 8th Duke of Wellington.

Early life

Wellesley was born on 6 July 1951, she is the third child and only daughter of Valerian, Marquess of Douro, later 8th Duke of Wellington, and Diana McConnel. Through her father, she is a direct descendant of the

1st Duke of Wellington Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (; 1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was a British Army officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during the late 18th and early 19th cent ...

. She was raised in London and at Stratfield Saye House, the family's seat in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. In her youth, she dated the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

(later King Charles III) in the early 1970s.

Career

Wellesley began her career working for ''

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

'' magazine and P. & D. Colnaghi & Co. In 1975, her television production career began with a position at ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' and subsequently the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and

Granada Studios Granada Studios was a television studio complex and events venue on Quay Street in Manchester, England, with the facility to broadcast live and recorded television programmes. The studios were the headquarters of Granada Television from 1956 to ...

. She became in independent producer in the 1980s, running Antelope Films and Warner Sisters Film and TV. In 1987, she produced the documentary ''The Riddle of Midnight'' with novelist

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...

. Her other production credits include '' A Village Affair'' (1995) and ''

Lady Audley's Secret ''Lady Audley's Secret'' is a sensation novel by Mary Elizabeth Braddon published on 1 October 1862. It was Braddon's most successful and well-known novel. Critic John Sutherland (author), John Sutherland (1989) described the work as "the most ...

'' (2000). Wellesley was a close friend of American journalist

Marie Colvin Marie Catherine Colvin (January 12, 1956 – February 22, 2012) was an American journalist who worked as a foreign affairs correspondent for the British newspaper ''The Sunday Times'' from 1985 until her death. She was one of the most prominent ...

who was killed in an attack by Syrian government forces while she was covering the siege of Homs for ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

''. In Colvin's honour, she was a co-founder of the Marie Colvin Journalists’ Network. In 2008, Wellesley published her first work on her family history, ''Wellington: A Journey Through My Family.'' She updated and released the book in 2015 for the bicentennial of the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

. In 2023, she published ''Blue Eyes and a Wild Spirit: A Life of Dorothy Wellesley'', a biography of her paternal grandmother, Dorothy, Duchess of Wellington.

Bibliography

* ''Wellington: A Journey Through My Family.'' London:

Weidenfeld & Nicolson Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991. History George Weidenfeld ...

, 2008. Hardcover: * ''Blue Eyes and a Wild Spirit: A Life of Dorothy Wellesley.'' Sheffield: Sandstone Press, 2023. Hardcover:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wellesley, Lady Jane 1951 births Living people Daughters of British dukes British women television producers British women non-fiction writers 20th-century British non-fiction writers 21st-century British non-fiction writers British women biographers 20th-century British biographers 21st-century British biographers Jane